Monday, March 17, 2014

Today I'm recovering from our trip to Honduras and reflecting on the amazing things we saw while in this beautiful country.

The people in Honduras are kind and loving. We see joy in the faces of children in each Compassion Project, though they live in abject poverty. The things that bring them delight are small and trivial as compared to the material society in which we live and the things our children desire. We are moved by their love for the Lord and the growing seeds of ambition that are planted in the hearts of these Compassion children- a belief that God has a plan for their lives and that they can make a difference in their country. We are touched by the tireless efforts of Compassion Project workers who care for and love these children with all they have.

It was a humbling moment when Pastora Candi at HO-283 announced that they were naming a new classroom in honor of my husband, Pastor Ed Seay. They had a ribbon-cutting ceremony and Ed and his sponsored child, Fernando, went in together to see an amazing new computer classroom. What an honor and blessing!

For the second time, I was blessed to be with my sponsored child, Alejandra Michelle, at HO-285. What a precious young 13 yr. old girl who desires to love God more and has a goal to go to college and become a teacher. She lives in a very small home with no running water. She walks a long way to get to school and to the project. She cares for her 2 little sisters and loves her mom and grandparents. It is such an amazing blessing to get to know these children and their families and better know how to pray for them and how to really love them.

Jessica's sweet little girl, Eimie, is very shy and struggles to smile. It was awesome for us to go with Jess to Eimie's home and meet her mother and her little brother. A smile emerged from her sweet face as she opened a princess backpack full of fun things for her. Even sweeter was the time of circling together, holding hands as Jess prayed for Eimie and her family. We are thankful for the ability to visit our children and help them know how much we love them.

I had the honor of meeting a friend's sponsored child in HO-286. Isaac is 13 yrs. old and sat down with me (and a translator) so I could give him some gifts sent by his sponsor. I told Isaac that his sponsor loved him very much and that she prays for him and she is very proud of him. As I shared this message through a translator, he covered his face and began to cry. I believe that God gave the words that HE knew Isaac needed on that day. It becomes apparent that these children are moved by the knowledge that someone who lives far away and has never met them, still loves them and prays for them. It was a touching moment that I will never forget.

One of my favorite experiences was the "blessing of the children". The Pastor at Project 284 asked that we line up on each side of the aisle of their church. He asked that we touch and bless the children as each of them passed through that tunnel of blessing. All of them, about 200, passed through smiling and reaching for us as we touched their heads and pronounced blessings over them. What a powerful time as we prayed for protection of their hearts and minds in a culture of evil and danger. We prayed that each of them would come to know Jesus as their Savior and that they would each realize the plan that God has for them - plans to give them a HOPE and a FUTURE.
In those moments you want to stay and hug and play and tell them over and over how much you love them and pray for them.

On the last full day of our visit, we met our sponsored children at an Inflatable Park for FUN DAY. What amazing smiles we got to see as they enjoyed climbing and sliding and jumping. They were carefree in those moments. They were not wondering if they would have enough food on that day or whether they would be safe or have clothes or water. They were playing and enjoying life in those moments. We are so thankful to Compassion for allowing us these opportunities to provide these kids with FUN. We spent hours with their families and had great conversations about life and Jesus.

If you are interested in sponsoring a child, go to www.compassion.com. If you would like to sponsor a child in the projects that we hope to visit each year you may call the 1-800 number on Compassion's website and ask about children in need of a sponsor in projects HO-283, HO-284, HO-285, HO-286.

Lord, help us to stay in this place of humility and gratefulness - this place where our hearts are affected by the sweet faces of children and the gracious welcoming hearts of families and project workers.

Saturday, January 4, 2014

This is the year.
In approximately 95 days, I will be 60 years old. I could choose to fret over this very sudden aging event, but instead I have chosen to embrace it. Ann Voskamp declares in her New Year's blog a "No-Fear New Year".
As Ann writes, I want to fall forward into 2014. I will not be afraid of what lies ahead. God is going before me. He is planning a new thing.

My Scripture for 2014
Isaiah 43:18-19 (The Message)
Forget what has happened; Don't keep going over old history.
Be alert, Be present.
I'm about to do something brand-NEW.
It's bursting out! Don't you see it?
There it is! I'm carving out a new road in the desert.

I'm ready!!!

I want to experience every day of it- knowing Christ more every day - loving my husband better - enjoying my family fully- embracing the seasons that are upon me.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

I didn't really expect today to be as powerful as yesterday, but I was wrong.We arrived at Compassion Project No. 283 today and received a warm greeting. The children sang for us and we had an opportunity to hear from a Project Coordinator. A Project Coordinator is responsible for 15 Projects. Each project has an average of 200 children. I can't fathom the magnitude of her job, but she is passionate about reaching children for Jesus.We served the children a meal and then we were able to bless this church by painting two of their classrooms. We had a ministry moment to pray for the pastor and be a support in some really difficult times. We also learned that there are 19 children in Project 283 that do not have sponsors. Another woman asked us to pray for her. Her 15 year old son has left home, become involved in drugs and running from people who want to kill him. She has many other needs in her family. She believes in the power of prayer.At the end of the day we visited another family in their home. This family has 7 children and lives in extreme poverty. When we asked how we could pray for them the wife asked that we pray that her husband would come to know the Lord. It was a moving time together.Over and over we are reminded that only the hope of Jesus can change the lives of these children and families. Compassion provides opportunities for children to learn about the hope of Christ and then they take this Hope back home to their families. Only Jesus can satisfy their soul!Please pray for sponsors for the children in Honduras.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Let me begin by saying that I am already a day behind... sorry!We are here this week with an awesome group of people who are anxious to touch the lives of children and churches through ministry.Day 1:After landing and getting checked into our hotel, we went to lunch where we met our Leadership Development Student, Milcian.Milcian is a 19 year old college student. She is in Compassion's Leadership Development Program. Our church now supports Milcian as she strives to complete her education and then have an impact on the people of her country. She knows and serves the Lord in her local church and was a Compassion child for many years. We all fell in love with her.We were able to take her shopping for school clothes after lunch. She was so excited when we told her, especially because her suitcase, full of clothes, had been stolen recently.Day 2:We started early this morning. We went to Compassion Project #283. What a blessing! We were warmly greeted by the pastor and his wife and the Project Director. There was a sweet spirit in that place. When we arrived we were surprised to find that the child we sponsor (Fernando) was waiting at the entrance for us. We first met Fernando and his mom, Lesley, 2 years ago when we made our first trip to Honduras. He was so excited and it was a long time before he would leave Ed's lap. Angel Padilla and Mildred Ashworth also met their sponsored child. We also met the sponsored children of Steve and Kim Greenwell and Fred and Karen Miller. It was an incredibly special time for all of us. We helped serve lunch to the children, washed dishes, helped shampoo the hair of many children, played soccer and built some shelves for one of the classrooms.After eating lunch we were able to go into the homes of some of the children. We visited Fernando's home and got to see his mom, Lesley, again. What a sweet reunion we had. Lesley and I bonded almost immediately the first time we met. She is so precious. She loves the Lord and loves her children. We cried together over the recent loss of her dad and I shared with her about my own dad's battle with cancer. We all gathered in their very small, one room home, and prayed for Lesley and for each of her children. My heart was overwhelmed with the poverty but vividly reminded of the reality the Christ brings hope to the darkest places.There are no words to describe the blessings we received today - the many children we loved on - the prayers prayed on behalf of the work being done by the pastor and church - and the love of many project workers who give of their time to teach the love of Jesus to over 200 children in this one project.I will post more pictures tomorrow. My camera and I were separated for a day but should be reunited tomorrow.Please pray for our time here. Pray that God would use us to share His love and joy and that pastors and churches would be encouraged by our visit.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Four years ago on this day, the Lord supernaturally touched me and healed me from severe pain and complications following my knee replacement. Today I stand to give Him praise and all the glory. For you see, my healing was never about me. I did not deserve to be healed. I could not do enough to earn healing. I was not anymore special in God's eyes than anyone else in need of healing. My healing was simply a means to share with others the wonder and marvelous deeds of our Almighty God - our Jehovah Rapha.So this morning as I was walking, I was reminded again of what God can do in a life - of the power of HIS touch. I was thankful for the ability to walk and not grow faint. I will be faithful to tell others of my great and mighty God.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

We thought we felt it, when God called us to First Baptist Church, Magnolia 20 years ago. It was the feeling of roots settling deep. Here we are 20 years later and we are so incredibly thankful that God has allowed us the gift of FBCM for all these years.In 20 years, personally, we have seen our children graduate from high school, go to college, get married and have babies (lots of them). We have seen Jess totally grow up and now she is a junior in college. In our church, we have celebrated births and watched those little ones grow up. We have mourned the deaths of many friends and watched God bring healing to broken hearts.We have seen children come to know Jesus and grow up to love God and serve Him. We have watched our church campus renovate and expand and then watched as the buildings were filled with people from all over our area. God is so good!!!!I have loved watching my husband lead and pastor and pray over this church. He loves this church with all of his heart.I am thankful for friends that have loved us unconditionally and for a church that has allowed us to live out our lives before them as openly and honestly as we knew how. Not all churches will allow that. FBCM is a special place.Thank you for loving my husband and my children and embracing us fully. We are honored to be called your Pastor and family.We can't wait to see what God has in store for the years beyond. We want to fight the good fight and run the race well.